5 Communication, Language and Literacy Development in the Preschool Years
5 Communication, Language and Literacy Development in the Preschool Years
Chapter Objectives
After this chapter, you should be able to:
- Discuss communication language and literacy development that takes place during the preschool years
- explain theories of language development
INTRODUCTION
A child’s vocabulary expands between the ages of 2 to 6 from about 200 words to over 10,000 words through a process called fast-mapping. Words are easily learned by making connections between new words and concepts already known. The parts of speech that are learned depend on the language and what is emphasized. Children speaking verb-friendly languages such as Chinese and Japanese, tend to learn verbs more readily. But those learning less verb-friendly languages such as English, seem to need assistance in grammar to master the use of verbs (Imai, et al, 2008, as cited by Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Johnson, 2021).
Figure 1: A woman instructing a girl on vocabulary. (Image by the U.S. Department of the Interior is in the public domain)
Literal meanings
Children can repeat words and phrases after having heard them only once or twice. But they do not always understand the meaning of the words or phrases. This is especially true of expressions or figures of speech that are taken literally. For example, a supply educator explains that he is working with them because their regular educator has ‘lost their voice’. The children, with great concern, want to know where they lost it and if they will find it again. That was a piece of cake!” The children begin asking “Cake? Who took it? Are we having cake? “
Overregularization
Children learn rules of grammar as they learn a language but may apply these rules inappropriately at first. For instance, a child learns to add “ed” to the end of a word to indicate past tense. Then form a sentence such as “I goed there. I doed that.” This is typical at ages 2 and 3. They will soon learn new words such as “went” and “did” to be used in those situations.
the impact of training
Remember Vygotsky and the zone of proximal development? Children can be assisted in learning language by others who listen attentively, model more accurate pronunciations and encourage elaboration. The child exclaims, “I goed there!” and the adult responds, “You went there? Say, ‘I went there.’ Where did you go?” Children may be ripe for language as Chomsky suggests, but active participation in helping them learn is important for language development as well. The process of scaffolding is one in which the adult (or more skilled peer) provides needed assistance to the child as a new skill is learned.
communicating with others
In the preschool years children become more skilled at communicating with others. They become increasingly aware of the conventions of effective conversations. Research shows that four year olds intentionally adjust their communication to match the listener and the context. (Shatz & Gelman 1983, as cited by Paris, Ricardo, Raymond, & Jo